


Limelight

by Dear_Anathema



Series: Curtain Call [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Masaru | Victor and Yuuri | Gloria are Twins, Romance, Slow Burn-ish, adding tags as I go, brief mention of poverty and child neglect in chapter 6, hop gloria and victor wont stop calling nat 'mom' and she's given up on stopping them, idk my good dudes i'm just here to provide water to all u thirsty hoes, mention of ptsd in chap 7, my depression kicked in, october prompts, this is based on a larger pkm fic i havent posted yet so, wish i could rearrange these tags but alas i will not delete and readd them, wow these started out so cute and then bam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26788369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dear_Anathema/pseuds/Dear_Anathema
Summary: Natalyn just wants a few things: 1) To stop being called "mum" by three teenagers that are only five years younger than her; 2) Her mom to stop making weird comments about Natalyn's love life; 3) For people to stop putting her and Leon in embarrassing situations.She isn't surprised when she gets none of those things.{31 one-shots based on the OCtober 2020 prompts by oc-growth-and-development on tumblr}
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Original Character(s), Dande | Leon/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Curtain Call [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953388
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. Sunrise

Not that anyone had ever asked Natalyn’s opinion on such trivial topics, but she would, without a doubt, argue that Unova has the best sunrises.

Anytime she thought about them, she thought of the early mornings spent on the roof of her family’s apartment back in Nacrene City, the fog coated fields she’d wander through on her Gym Challenge, the sleepy towns in the countryside of Unova. Mornings like that were like one of her mother’s warm hugs, one of her father’s loving smiles: They were comforting and familiar.

Thinking about it, she was startled upon realizing that she hadn’t watched a single sunrise since coming to Galar. It was something she had done often back home, finding the tranquility of the early morning an easy place to collect her thoughts.

She was standing at her stove when she realized this, a hand cutting across her vision to pull the screaming kettle off the burner.

“Nat, you good?” Leon asked, touching her shoulder gently, causing her to jump. “You just zoned out hard.”

“Yeah,” she said, clearing her throat. “Yeah, I’m fine, sorry.” She glanced at the kettle sheepishly. “I didn’t even hear that.”

He grinned and shook his head. “What had you thinking so hard?”

Natalyn bit her lip. It was just past midnight meaning Leon would probably head out soon. He had already stayed longer than he intended; Oleana had given her massive amounts of paperwork to go through and Leon, seeing the defeated look on Natalyn’s face as she received it, offered to help her go through it.

 _“I don’t know how Rose expects you to fill this out,”_ He had said in exasperation as he eased the load in her arms. _“You’ve only been in Galar for a few months. Hell, you’re still confused about our Gym Challenge—no offense or anything.”_

Peeking at him from the corner of her eye, she made the split-second decision to ask, “Would you want to stay? And watch the sunrise? With me? And—and Ollie,” she hastily added, looking at her Lillipup who was sleeping on the couch. “Obviously. Can’t forget him.”

Leon looked utterly baffled at her question. Silence filled the air between them, her embarrassment growing with each passing moment he gaped like a fish at her, and she was about to quickly tell him to forget it when he spit out, “Uh, yeah. Sure. That—that sounds cool.” He glanced at the kettle that was quickly cooling off on the stove. “We might need something stronger than that tea if you’re wanting to say up all night, though.”

“Great!” She said quickly, clapping her hands together and spinning around so he couldn’t see the way her face flushed. “Amazing, yeah, um, yup. Anyway. That’s good, hot tea tastes like ass anyway, so I’ll make some coffee. I only have that kettle because Raihan made me buy one.”

Her chest filled with an unknown warmth while Leon indignantly spluttered behind her.

* * *

Leon was content to watch Natalyn busy herself in her little kitchen, dancing around as she gathered the ingredients to make her third pot of coffee. Her Lillipup had climbed into his lap at some point, demanding attention, and Leon was absentmindedly scratching behind his ears as she rambled. “If you ever wanna make fancy coffee,” she said, “add some nutmeg to the grounds before you brew it.”

“Where’d you learn that?”

She looked embarrassed as she admitted, “A TV show I watched when I was little. _But!_ It’s solid advice, so…”

He laughed, shrugging as he said, “I wouldn’t know. I drink tea like a proper Galarian.”

“Excuse me,” she whirled around to mock glare at him. “Iced tea is the _only_ acceptable form of tea. And considering I’m, yanno, _from Unova_ , and I’m only here because I’m an Ambassador, so I see no reason to pretend to be a ‘proper Galarian.’”

There was something about Natalyn that Leon found extremely refreshing. It was obvious from the first time he met her that she wasn’t entirely comfortable whenever the conversation was about herself—that she was a guarded person. He never tried prying into her past, though, didn’t force her into giving answers she wasn’t willing to give. He took from her whatever she offered to him and didn’t demand more.

It helped, too, that she treated him the exact same way.

After a lifetime of fame, Leon was numbed to having his privacy invaded. Numb to people pushing for more, more, more. Pressured to giving every aspect of himself until there was nothing left for the public to consume.

Natalyn never expected him to be the Unbeatable Champion Leon. From the very beginning, the fact she had not at all been impressed she had when he had been introduced as the Unbeatable Champion was endearing despite his best efforts to dislike her. (But even he had to admit, he had only disliked her because of Rose, and he couldn’t hold onto that dislike long—not with the way Raihan and Hop praised her).

She had only ever asked him to be Just Leon, and he was more grateful for that than he could express.

It made it easy to give in to requests like watching the sunrise. He did genuinely enjoy being around her, and she was the kind of person content to sit in silence for hours. Some people were exhausting to be around, but she certainly wasn’t one of them.

He looked up from her Lillipup to see her beaming at him. Her honey blonde hair was falling out of its braid, wisps of it curling around her ears. The gray sweatshirt she wore was dwarfing her thin, black gym shorts barely peaking out from under the hem of the sweatshirt. Meeting her eyes, he felt his face flush as her ocean colored irises glint with mirth.

“You ready to head up to the roof?” She asked. Lifting two travel mugs, she continued, “Packed us some rations, too.”

“Thank god,” he said, standing up and placing her Lillipup on the seat he vacated. “Don’t know if I could have lasted, what?” He turned to the clock on the wall. “Twenty more minutes? Really pushed me to my limits there, Natalyn.”

“Oh, shut up,” she teasingly replied as she led him upstairs and into her bedroom. “Also, fair warning, I’ve never tried to climb onto the roof from here, but the window is a dormer so we should be fine.”

“Famous last words,” he deadpanned. He kicked off his trainers next to her window and took the mugs so she could open it. The glass swung out and, with absolutely no fear whatsoever, she promptly swung herself out of it. Leon almost dropped the mugs in his haste to put them down and reach out, grabbing onto her waist to steady her.

She paused to turn her head, amusement dancing across her face. “I’m going to have to make you sign a confidentiality form for this, you know that, right? Just so your fangirls don’t accuse me of anything that would ruin my reputation.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re _so_ funny,” he said. “Hush up and hurry, this isn’t a very comfortable position.”

With a bit of effort, Natalyn was able to climb— _safely_ , Leon noted cheekily—onto the roof, taking the mugs from him before pulling him up after her.

The little cottage was on the fringes of East Hammerlocke, on the boundaries of the city and the countryside. If Leon turned around, he’d see Hammerlocke Castle towering above them, but her bedroom faced the forests, meaning they had a perfect view of the horizon sitting on the roof above it.

They chatted aimlessly as they laid side by side. The sky was just beginning to light up, the night’s deep navy melting into a warm fuchsia across the skyline. Natalyn started to squirm, prompting him to whisper, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just, uh,” she avoided his eye as her cheeks flushed until they matched the sky. “Do you mind if I, yanno…?” She nodded her head towards him.

He blinked. A moment later, the pieces of what she was insinuating fit into place. He bit back a chuckle and reached an arm towards her, pulling her close. Her head nestled onto his chest; her small hand balled up as it stretched across his stomach. “Is this better?” He asked quietly.

They watched the sun rise in silence. Leon was close to drifting off when the sound of her voice roused him. He tilted his head down at her, surprised to see her studying his face.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

His chest felt as warm as the morning sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello hello thank you for getting this far
> 
> just wanted to let yall know that (at least as of when i am posting this) that this story is like. in the same universe of another fic that i HAVENT posted yet bc i'm still writing so yeah
> 
> if you have any questions you can find me at lidiyuh.tumblr.com !!
> 
> edit (10/9): so. i revised the chapter. cause i wasn't happy with the first one (and i have a v bad habit of writing a first draft and then uploading it without editing) but this one, in my humble opinion, is WAY better, even though it's currently 1:13am and i have to get up for work at 4:30. on the bright side, i work at st*rbucks, so.... i get coffee?????? now if only i drank it  
> also if any of yall are wondering the whole "nutmeg in coffee" thing is a gilmore girls reference
> 
> anyway love u be safe bye


	2. Mercy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i very briefly mention it in this chapter but just to avoid any confusion:
> 
> natalyn (my oc) is from unova. when she was 11 she was adopted by Lenora (the gym leader in Nacrene City) and her husband, Hawes, due some shit that happened with her biological mom (which i'd explain further but in doing so, i would be spoiling the main story i'm writing of nat so i'm not gonna,,, do that). also both of natalyn's biological parents are still alive, and she lived with at least one of them until she 11, but she doesn't have a relationship/contact with either of them
> 
> nat also almost never talks abt the fact she's adopted bc it's a Touchy Subject but that's not really relevant lol

Mario Kart is an extremely dangerous game for three people—all of them way too competitive—to play.

It is even more dangerous for all three of them to play it together.

And, as Natalyn would vehemently argue, it was Raihan’s fault for not asking her how she felt about Mario Kart before he invited her over to play with him and Leon. He (wrongly) assumed that she responded to video games the same way she had responded to everything else he had invited her along for. A passive expression and a shrug.

 _If_ Raihan had bothered to ask prior, which Natalyn would laughingly tell him afterwards, she would have unhesitatingly told him that Mario Kart was how she bonded with her adoptive parents, the Nacrene City Museum Directors, when they took her in.

They hadn’t entirely known act around children when they took Natalyn; The longest interaction they’d had was whenever there was a field trip to the Nacrene Museum. And seeing as Natalyn had been eleven when they became her parents, it wasn’t like they were handed a brand-new baby, either. After a weeks of watching her listlessly wander around their apartment, though, Hawes had made the executive decision to go and buy a Wii, arguing that if he liked playing video games as a child, Natalyn surely would, right?

Which both kickstarted an intense love for video games, and no small amount of fondness remembering how proud of her Lenora and Hawes had been the first time she managed to kick their ass in Mario Kart.

And the thing was, Natalyn refused to be ashamed over how excited she got when it came to Mario Kart. She had spent years playing the game with her parents, which only led to her being an excellent player.

As it turned out, Leon was just as good at the game. “Me and Hop used to play all the time,” he had told her while waiting for Raihan to set up his Switch. “We had a lot of fun. He was the only kid I knew who didn’t fall off Rainbow Road.”

Natalyn laughed, “That doesn’t surprise me. He’s one of the most determined kids I’ve ever met.”

Leon beamed at the praise, chest puffing up with pride for his little brother.

Shortly after, Raihan announced that it was ready, before winking at Natalyn and bragging, “Hope you’re ready to have your ass handed to you, Nat. Don’t worry, though. I’ll kiss it to make you feel better after.”

“That’s so nice of you,” she crooned. “I’m not kissing your ass to make _you_ feel better, though.”

Raihan’s boast was even funnier once they began playing. Half an hour later, Raihan threw his controller down and slumped in his chair. Leon and Natalyn were constantly placing either first or second place while Raihan couldn’t place higher than third. He glared at his friends as he declared, “Fuck you two.”

“Sucks to suck, mate,” Leon stuck his tongue out.

Him and Natalyn continued playing without Raihan for a little while longer. Then, in the third lap of the final race, the end of the course was just around the corner, and Natalyn was in first with Leon right on her tail. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blue shell coming for her, and said, “Hey, Rai, watch this!” before slamming on the breaks.

Leon’s character zoomed past her as he asked, “What the hell?” Moments later, the blue shell smashed down on his kart while Natalyn cackled as she drove around it to victory.

The game ended and Leon turned to her with betrayal all over his face. “Why, Nat?”

“Because,” she began sagely. “The first rule of Mario Kart is that there is _no_ mercy in Mario Kart.”

Raihan laughed so hard he fell off the couch.


	3. Youth

Whenever Hop invited her to hang out with him and the twins, Gloria and Victor, Natalyn knew she was signing up for… an interesting time, to say the very least.

She’d hung out with the teens a lot in the several months she’d been in Galar—more than she would have thought that she, at the age of twenty, would spend time with three fifteen-year-olds—but she had come to enjoy spending time with them.

Well.

Most of the time, anyway.

She’d enjoy it more had Victor and Gloria not begun calling Natalyn “mum.”

She knew that they’d stop if she told them it made her uncomfortable, but if she were to be honest, it was kind of funny to her. (Again, it was kind of funny _most_ of the time—there were definitely a few times in which it had become entirely less amusing, like the time Gloria was on the phone with her actual mom and then addressed Natalyn as such). It had only begun after Natalyn had run into the trio in Circhester and immediately began scolding them for the bags under their eyes, demanding if they had eaten a proper meal lately.

 _“You’re starting to sound like Lee right now,”_ Hop had whined.

 _“Well_ someone _has to look out for your health!”_ She’d replied with no small amount of snark in her voice. _“I know you’re excited to finish the Challenge, but how can you expect to win any battles if you’re passing out from exhaustion and hunger!”_

And before anyone could say anything else, Victor had snapped his fingers and looked Natalyn dead in the eye as he bluntly said, _“Mum.”_

From that point forward, him and Gloria refused to address Natalyn as anything else in public. Hop joined in sometimes, but he usually just stuck to her name or some very weird variant of it.

(She still wasn’t over him addressing her as “Nattington,” or the way he had winced the moment the word came out of his mouth before begging her to forget he’d said it).

(Clearly, she had not forgotten it).

So, yeah.

Hanging out with them was always interesting.

However, she was under the impression there was an unspoken rule to _not_ clue in people they knew that they called her their mother. Sure, it was fun to see the way strangers reacted to three teenagers beg a resigned woman way too young for almost grown children to buy them candy. But non-strangers? That was a line yet to be crossed.

And, as Natalyn found out one morning, it was a line that the twins were just dying to cross.

It started out innocently enough. Hop texted Natalyn the night before, asking if she’d want to get breakfast with them. They were in Hammerlocke after training in the Wild Area for Raihan’s Gym and she hadn’t seen them in a couple weeks, so she agreed to meet them early the next morning.

She met them at some tiny diner in the more rundown end of the city. She didn’t bother questioning it when the three of them squished themselves into one side of the booth, leaving her on the other side by herself. They’d done stranger things. It didn’t even phase her when Victor had asked her with a deadpan, “Mum, can I get some pancakes?”

The two of them ignored the waiter’s confused expression as she replied, “Seeing as I’m not the one paying, I really don’t care.” The waiter’s expression only grew once he heard her Unovan accent, but neither of them commented on it. It was barely seven in the morning and the only thing Natalyn particularly cared about was how soon she could get some coffee.

She was very determinedly draining her mug of coffee when there was someone sliding into the booth next to her with a, “Budge up there, Nat.” Natalyn choked on her drink, spluttering as she put it down and looked up to see Leon pressed against her, before her face flushed deeply and her choking intensified. Despite that, she quickly pushed herself further in the booth, resolutely ignoring Leon’s look of concern.

Once she managed to calm down her coughs, Natalyn glared at Hop. The teenager had most assuredly _not_ told her that he had also invited Leon, which she supposed he didn’t have to, but it was always nice to be prepared.

Hop smiled innocently back at her.

“Sorry I’m late,” Leon said, oblivious to the silent argument brewing between the woman next to him and his little brother. “Wooloo were blocking the train tracks again so I got delayed.” He glanced towards Natalyn, snapping her attention away from Hop, and smiled softly at her. “Didn’t know you’d be here, too, Nat.”

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally settling with a, “Well, you know, Hop can be _very_ convincing when he wants to be.”

Leon laughed and agreed.

The waiter came back over to take Leon’s order, and the table quickly filled with amicable chatter, most of it focusing on the teens’ preparations to take on Raihan. Natalyn commented every now and then but spent most of it focusing on draining the pot of coffee the waiter eventually left with a resigned sigh. She made a mental note to give the poor man a generous tip.

It didn’t take long for their food to come, but partway through the meal, Gloria put down her cutlery and zeroed in on Leon with a shit eating grin. Ignoring the warning look Natalyn was shooting her with, Gloria—far too casually—asked Leon innocently, “Sooo… Dad, how have you been lately?”

Victor choked on his pancakes. Hop dropped his fork. They both looked equally impressed at Gloria’s gall.

Natalyn sunk into her seat. 

And then, poking his bacon, completely unaware, Leon answered, “A bit busy, but nothing new, I guess.” There was a very pregnant pause at the table. It took a minute, but then he looked up, fixing Gloria with a bewildered look. “Did you just call me—?”

Hop, now with an expression mirroring Gloria’s, hastily interrupted his brother with, “Really? Cause, uh, Mum said that you and her hung out recently.” He stared at Natalyn as she spoke causing her to sink further in her seat.

“Um,” Leon said blankly. “Hop, I haven’t seen Mum in ages. Not since the Gym Challenge started, you know that. Wait, what does that have to do with Glor—?”

Victor was the next one to cut Leon off. “Not _your_ mum,” he said. He nodded to Natalyn who promptly hid her face with her hands. “Her. _That_ mum.”

Leon’s eyes flitted between Natalyn and the kids, thoroughly perplexed, as the implications of what the kids were saying began to make sense. Spluttering, he managed to ask, “What?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Gloria asked politely before going onto say as if it were the most normal thing in the world, “She’s our mum now.”

“She yelled at us just like you do, Lee!” Hop added with a nod. “Definite mum material, don’t you think?”

“ _And_ ,” Victor said with finality. “Since she scolded us just as bad as you, that just means you’re now Dad!”

Another silence filled the table as Leon slowly comprehended the situation. Then, he heartily laughed, threw his arm around her shoulders and said, “Well, I did pretty much raise Hop. If he thinks you’d be a good mum, I can’t argue with that.”

Natalyn moved her hands away from her face to mutter, “I’m too young to be a mom.”

Leon tutted her with a tap to her nose and she felt as though she'd combust. “You’re the hottest mum I’ve ever seen,” he said casually.

Natalyn bolted up in her seat, completely aghast, as she spluttered, “ _Leon!_ You can’t—you—what? There’s—there’s _children_ at the table! And? _What does that even mean?"_

“Hey!” Gloria protested. “We’re young adults, thank you very much!”

Hop clapped a hand over Gloria's mouth and grinned slyly. “Hear that, Nat? My brother thinks your attractive—!” A loud thud cut his sentence off, causing him to cry, “ _Ow,_ Lee! Too hard, mate!”

In spite of the chaos the table had devolved into, Natalyn pushed her plate away, promptly dropping her head to the wood. Finally, she groaned, “You guys are _never_ allowed to call me ‘mom’ again.”


	4. Ambush

Raihan had never been a particularly subtle person, so there was something glaringly suspicious when he sidled up to Natalyn and asked, “Can I get your mum’s number?”

Usually, Natalyn would immediately reply with a fat “no,” but instead she bit her tongue and gave Raihan a look. She knew he was in university, that he was majoring in Galarian history, and knew that several of his textbooks _had_ been written by her mother.

He had pointed out as much when she originally mentioned who her mom was. It also happened to be the reason Raihan had found out she was adopted. He had flipped to the About Author page of the book and bluntly asked, _“Mate, how the hell is your mum a Black woman? No offense or anything, but you have to be the palest person I’ve ever seen.”_ He’d held the page up while he asked, the photo of Unova’s Nacrene Museum Director, Lenora smiling warmly at Natalyn.

Finally, she suspiciously asked, “Why do you need it?”

He didn’t answer her directly, instead whining, “ _Please_! I just have a couple of questions! I will beg on my hands and knees if I have to!”

“Then do it,” she bluntly replied. When Raihan actually moved to do it, Natalyn quickly stopped him and said, “God, I was kidding. Seriously, why do you need it?”

“Because it’s easier than email.”

Natalyn couldn’t argue with that. Figuring he just had some questions pertaining to archeology—that was her mom’s specialty, after all—and it wasn’t too outlandish of a request, she sighed. “Let me ask Mom first.”

Raihan cheered as she texted Lenora.

* * *

A few days after, Natalyn had forgotten entirely about the conversation.

That was, at least, until Lenora called her out of the blue, her warm voice teasingly cutting off Natalyn’s greeting. _“So,”_ her mom said. “ _Who’s this ‘Leon’ boy your friend Raihan told me and your dad about? I’ve done a bit of research. You never mentioned being well acquainted with the Galarian Champion!”_

“Well,” Natalyn said with a groan, mentally berating Raihan. “It isn’t _that_ important. And if you know he’s the Champion, it sounds like you don’t need anything else from me.”

“ _Don’t say that!”_ Lenora whined. Natalyn heard mumbling in the background before her mother continued, _“How are your father and I supposed to know if he’s a good boy or not if you don’t tell us about him? You told us about Raihan almost immediately, but not Leon!”_

“Does it really matter?”

 _“Um, yes, it does,”_ Lenora said. _“Do you know what it feels like to find out about your only child’s boyfriend from her friend and not her?”_

“Mom!” Natalyn cried out. “Leon is not my boyfriend! That’d be like saying _Raihan_ is my boyfriend. It’s completely possible for me to be friends with a guy, you know!”

“ _I know that,_ ” Lenora said patiently. Natalyn could imagine her expression and she didn’t like it one bit. “ _But Raihan told me some interesting things about you and this Leon boy. You never even_ mentioned _that he’s introduced you to his family! And I haven’t even heard his voice once! Since when did you hide things from us, huh?”_

“If you want to know what he sounds like, all you have to do is look up one of his thousand interviews online,” Natalyn deadpanned. “And introducing me to his little brother is not at _all_ the same as meeting someone’s family. Like, I don’t think he’s ever his family _other_ than his brother. _And_ , might I add, he didn’t introduce me to Hop by choice. Hop walked up to me and started talking. Not at all the same.”

Lenora clicked her tongue. There was some shuffling on the other end of the line, and Natalyn heard her father’s voice, before Lenora said, “ _Well, your dad just wants to know when you two will be official, so we know when to start planning for grandchildren._ ”

_“Ma!”_

* * *

Raihan was bored out of his mind. His Gym Trainers were in his office, talking about something or another, the conversation having drifted away from a need for his input a while ago when Raihan’s phone went off. He pulled it from his pocket and grinned when he saw it was a text from Natalyn.

_Thanks for the ambush. NOT. Never doing a favor for you ever again._

Raihan chuckled as he typed, _It’s just for your benefit, love._


	5. Beloved

In the short amount of time Leon had known Natalyn, it was evident how much she adored her Lillipup, Ollie.

Every time Leon encountered the two, he found the Lillipup in a different outfit. She dressed him up constantly, putting little bowties on his collar or giving him a sweater. She’d show him off to anyone who’d listen, too, calling Ollie the “smartest good boy” and other adorable cheesy compliments. showing him off to anyone she could.

The entire thing endeared her a lot more to Leon than he’d care to admit. He held a lot of respect for people who treated their Pokémon with respect, having run into too many people that mistreated their partners. It had made it kind of hard to _not_ be fond of Natalyn after seeing the way she talked about her Pokémon.

Leon was trying to slink through Wyndon incognito when he heard Natalyn call out his name. He turned around to see her sprinting up to him, cheeks flushed, but with the widest grin he had never seen. “Hey, stranger,” he greeted as she stopped in front of him. “What’re you doing?”

“Rai told me you’d be here,” she said in what he assumed was an explanation. There was a wild gleam in her eyes. “He just about _died_ laughing, too.”

Now he was intrigued. Leon quirked an eyebrow, asking, “And what did you come all the way here for, then?”

Natalyn was giggling as she stepped aside, waving her arms dramatically as she declared, “Ta da!”

Leon stared in confusion at the empty air Natalyn had just occupied. A bark drew his gaze towards the ground and—

He immediately burst into laughter.

Ollie stood, prouder than any dog he’d ever seen, dressed up as a miniature Charizard. He had a headband and fake tail and everything.

“Isn’t he the cutest?!” Natalyn crooned, scooping the puppy up into her arms to give Leon a better look. “I saw it and knew I had to get it.”

Between wheezes, Leon managed to spit out, “Where the hell did you find _that_?”

“Some weird shop in Motostoke,” she proudly informed him. “It was on clearance, too!”

Leon scratched Ollie’s ears affectionately as they stood there chatting. A couple of minutes passed when a thought occurred to Leon he’d never considered before.

“How’d you get a Lillipup, anyway?” He curiously asked. “I’ve heard they’re common in Unova but the only place you can find them here is the Isle of Armor.”

Natalyn beamed as she looked down at the Pokémon in her arms. “My mom’s Stoutland had a litter right before I came home from training to be an Ambassador in Kanto. Ollie followed me _everywhere_ , and I was only home for a month when the League told me I was being sent here, so Mom gave him to me as a going away present since he was so attached. She even argued with Rose so I could bring Ollie with me.”

Embarrassingly enough, Leon felt his heart melt just a little at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> natalyns lillipup is a fashion icon
> 
> annnnnd for clarity's sake, natalyn's role in galar is an ambassador to the international league association, which is something entirely of my creation. basically it's the fifa of the pokemon sport. but with more political power. so like the european union. it's legit just an international government lol. but she's only in galar for the duration of the gym challenge to make sure things Run Smoothly and No Laws Are Being Broken (lololololol)


	6. Luxury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how much of a tw i need for this
> 
> but this chapter does talk about poverty and child neglect
> 
> not very descriptively, imo, but i also experienced both of those things so my sensor for it is a bit off
> 
> just in case it's something that upsets one of you
> 
> edit (10/8): soooo i apparently didn't copy the end of the chapter when uploading it sooooo im v sorry, it's fixed, in the future if it just stops in the middle of a sentence plz know thats a mistake and lmk so i can fix it bc i feel very embarrassed now

Leon had always been acutely aware of how little money his family had.

Most people in Postwick, while not under the poverty line, barely managed to keep themselves above it. That’s just what happened when you lived in a rural farming community, though. It was also why so many men had quit working the fields to go work in the mines, thinking it was a more financially stable pursuit. The mining boom hadn’t lasted long though, and the few moments of prosperity were short-lived. It didn’t help, either, when the explosions in the mines happened, leaving so many men injured or dead.

When he won the Champion’s Cup, Leon was shocked to find out just how much money someone could have. When you’re ten and you’ve lived your entire life wearing threadbare hand-me-down’s and watching your mother skip dinner constantly, money was never around in excess to you. 

It was why, in those early years, Leon had sent his mother as much money as possible. But because he had been so young, it never occurred to him at the time that it would put him on a pedestal, in her eyes. That it would make her favor him over Hop more than she already did.

And, oh, she did. Their father had left right before Hop was born, making Leon the man of the house, and leaving Leon doing his best to raise Hop at the tender age of five. Their mother was more of an idea in their house for the longest time, nothing more than a wisp, only being seen a few times a week.

By the time their grandparents realized they were being neglected, it was far too late for Hop to go to an actual adult (as opposed to Leon) when he had issues. And for Leon, it was instinct at that point for him to keep Hop from wandering into the Slumbering Weald, to patch up Hop’s scraped knees, to help Hop with his maths homework. They hadn’t noticed until Rose endorsed Leon and Leon left for his challenge. Not until they stopped by to visit one day to see Hop obviously underfed and ignored without Leon there.

It didn’t stop the guilt from constantly eating at Leon for leaving once he found out, either.

(Hop will tell Leon, years from now, that he never once resented Leon for it. It never occurred to him to be upset. “You deserved to be a kid, too,” he will say. And Leon won’t be able to stop the tears the fall afterwards).

Leon knows, too, of what people expect about him. About his home, his lifestyle. His family only lives in the largest house in Postwick because of Leon’s winnings.

But he also knows that the high life that usually comes with being rich isn’t what he wants.

He _likes_ living in a shitty flat in the seedier side of Wyndon, thank you very much. People don’t treat him as royalty there. They don’t see him as an idol, a figurehead, because to them, he’s simply Leon. He’s the boy who massages his elderly neighbor’s fingers when her arthritis is bad. He’s the boy who silently pays the old man downstairs’ electric bill when his retirement check is inevitably late. He’s the boy who doesn’t think twice about tutoring the kids in the building across the street their maths when the teacher quits halfway through the school year.

To them, he’s not the Unbeatable Champion. He’s not some photo on a poster somewhere.

He’s one of them. Because he remembers what it’s like to go without power, he remembers what it’s like giving your little brother most of your food. Because he’s one of the lucky ones that managed to break that cycle. 

And despite the fact he isn’t ashamed of where he lives, he can’t help himself from feeling nervous the first time he properly brings Natalyn to his apartment.

(The actual first time… She hadn’t stayed long by no fault of her own. He blushes thinking about it, thinking about the fact she was in his bedroom, shirtless, her chest heaving, when he had yelled at her for pointing out the truth to him. And then next time she had come over, well, they fumbled their way to his bed too quick for her to pay attention to her surroundings).

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was, she was coming over to his shitty flat for real—meaning she was actually paying attention to her surroundings, her eyes flickering from garbage piles to smoke rising from the grates to that one drunk man that only leaves the steps of his home when night falls.

He kept glancing over at her anxiously, waiting for her to ask him if he’s taking the mickey, if he thinks that this is some practical joke. Instead, she grinned as she watched a group of children playing with a ball.

A few of the kids noticed Leon, stopping and running over to him, asking if he could help with their homework.

“Not right now,” he laughed awkwardly. “I’m a little busy.”

One of the kids, a little girl named Erin, looked Natalyn up and down before asking Leon, “Is that your girlfriend, Mr. Leon?”

He didn’t dare look at his companion as he quickly scolded, “Erin, that isn’t any of your business. Go on back to your game, alright?

“But you didn’t answer me!” Erin whined, latching onto the sleeve of Leon’s hoodie.

He began thinking of all the ways to get away from the kids when Natalyn crouched down to Erin’s height and introduced herself. “Erin, is it? It’s nice to meet you! My name is Natalyn,” she said. Then, leaning forward, she whispered conspiratorially, “I would be Leon’s girlfriend, but he hasn’t asked me to yet.”

Erin gaped at Natalyn before whirling on Leon. Leon knew the look on her face—it was the same look her mother had when her mother was about to start spouting out something embarrassing, the kind of look you knew after being neighbors with someone for years. He swiftly pulled Natalyn up and promptly began dragging her away, calling to the kids, “Seriously, go back to your game before I tell your parents that you were causing trouble!”

After he had pushed his way inside his building, he turned to Natalyn and sternly said, “And _you._ Don’t encourage her, otherwise she will grow up to take her mother’s job as Galar’s Biggest Gossip.”

Natalyn’s peals of laughter followed them up the stairs to his flat.

His nervousness spiked when her mirth died down as she entered his apartment. He closely watched all her reactions as she took in his home properly for the first time. Turning back to him with a gentle smile, she said, “I love it.”

“I know it’s not a lot,” he immediately started to ramble. “And it’s really rundown and people expect me to live in one of those super expensive places in North Wyndon, but people here really are really nice and don’t bug me and—!”

He found himself being pulled into a tight embrace, his head nestled in the crook of her neck and her fingers slowly running their way through his hair.

“You don’t have to worry about me judging,” she murmured. “I didn’t grow up in the lap of luxury, either.”


	7. Cliff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: trauma, ptsd

Natalyn had spent much of her life feeling as though she were trapped on the edge of some proverbial cliff.

But, at this point, she was so accustomed to it that she was numb to it.

That numbness was one of the few things that made it so she could get through each day with her sanity intact, make it through the end of the week without a breakdown. Sure, it wasn’t the coping mechanism her mom had in mind when her mom had forced her into therapy when she was thirteen. That was the thing the years of therapy had taught her about trauma, though: You can’t escape it.

When she first came to Galar though, it really felt like an escape, however unintentional that was. For the first time in her life, she was surrounded by people who didn’t know a single thing about her past, who only knew her as she was in the present, and that was _liberating_.

She was comfortable with people in Galar in a way she’d honestly never been before, leading her to not batting an eye when Leon coming over because of work turned into them having an impromptu movie night. 

The two of them were sprawled across her couch as they watched what Leon declared were “the classics.” Which, Leon had ended up admitting halfway through the first movie, were mostly just films that he’d watch as a kid with his brother, but she didn’t care.

It was fun to sit there, cracking jokes about terrible graphics, mocking actors’ terrible accents.

And then, sometime between the third and fourth movies, she fell asleep.

She woke up several hours later, drenched in sweat, bolting up in her seat. Sobs were wrenched from her chest while she desperately looked around, but— _this wasn’t the room she fell asleep in._

She hadn’t seen this room in almost ten years.

Hastily scrambling backwards, she instead crashed onto the floor, the pain shooting up her arms not even registering through the overwhelming terror she felt.

She tried to scramble backwards, managing instead to crash into the floor, the pain not registering as it revibrated up her arms.

Around her, photos were torn from the walls. The furniture was tipped over and torn apart. From the corner of her eye, she saw the hall, the dread beginning to choke her, knowing what would happen when she walked down it into the second bedroom on the left.

_Hey, calm down, Nat, you’re okay, it’s okay_

A warm hand pressed against her face, causing her heart to drum against her ribcage. This wasn’t right. There was no one home when she walked in, and no one held her face like that, so what—?

Abruptly, her vision was restored to her, the trashed living room melting away into the concern filled eyes that frantically searched her own. The sight of Leon kneeling on the floor in front of her, holding her face in between his palms as if it were the most precious item in the world, it was too much for her.

She swallowed down the bile in her throat and began profusely apologizing through her tears. “I—I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I—you—!”

Her sobs only increased tenfold as he kept saying, “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

Slowly, Leon adjusted them, leaning against the couch with her face pressed into his shirt, his arms wrapped tightly around her as her chest heaved. His thumb rubbed circles into her back as he continued murmuring, “You’re okay, you’re safe, please don’t worry.”

She whimpered another apology.

“You have _nothing_ to be sorry for, Nat.”

He held her like that for a long time, only loosening his grip when her tears slowed, and her tremors had calmed. She pulled away from him slightly, avoiding eye contact as she wiped her face with her sleeves.

Leon tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and quietly asked, “What were you dreaming about? You… you were saying some concerning things.”

The dread came back like whiplash.

“What was I saying?”

He hesitated at her question, his thumb rubbing her cheekbone. “Not a lot that made sense. It was—well… you kept asking where someone was, asking not to be left alone.” His voice trailed off, letting her process his words before he continued. “Natalyn, what… what happened?”

Her throat tightened. A thousand incoherent thoughts raced across her mind, all of them coming to the same conclusion: She couldn’t say it even if she wanted to. The entire subject made her feel dirty, as though she were branded with something she’d never be able to scrub from her skin. “It’s nothing,” she managed to choke out after a beat. “It was just a nightmare.”

Leon let out a small breath, and for a terrifying moment she thought he would pressure her for an answer.

Instead, he pulled her back into his arms and tucked her head under his chin. Hesitantly, he pressed a kiss to her temple and said, “If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

For the first time, Natalyn didn’t feel as though was chained to the edge of her proverbial cliff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not a mental health expert by any means, but i was abused as a kid (and by "as a kid" i mean i'm now 20 and i only escaped it last year) and i now suffer from ptsd as a result. i based natalyn's nightmare off of what i experience, though hers is a lot more specific
> 
> (mine tend to be jumbled and are more based off of the fear that i'll be forced back into the situation i was in. the most recent one i remember having was being crooned at by the person to be her "good little college student" as i was locked into the room she had locked me into irl)
> 
> however, natalyn waking up and not recognizing her own surroundings? that was 100% based off of what happens to me whenever i wake up from the nightmares
> 
> however part 2, again, i'm not a mental health expert, and ppl with trauma experience it vastly differently so please do not take it as a "this happens to everyone with ptsd" account bc i'm other people experience differently (and i also have adhd so that. affects things too)
> 
> anyway if yall ever need to talk, you can find me on lidiyuh.tumblr.com, i can't promise i'll respond quickly but i get shit and i'm here to help in any way i can
> 
> love yall be safe


	8. Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalyn is homesick. Leon and Raihan try to fix that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long!!! i got swamped with school (i'm in college lol. midterms, anyone??????...........i say knowing full well i stopped doing my midterm that was due on october 5 to finish writing this and it's............. october 19th. and if u see this before i add the other chapters i know it says the update date is 10/8 but thats bc i'm a liar ok)
> 
> anyway i'm gonna do my best to catch up asap but (checks canvas) i have at least 10 missing assignments sooooooooooooo, yeah. zoom university is kicking my ass lmfao. love u all stay safe

Natalyn isn’t entirely sure how Raihan convinced her to do work for him—she assumes he bribed her with the fact his office in Hammerlocke Stadium was air conditioned, unlike the rest of Galar—but the sweltering heat is too heavy for her to think properly, AC or not.

Glancing up from the papers Raihan had asked her to help fill out, it seems Leon, whom Raihan also somehow roped into this, looks as miserable as she is.

 _At least I’m not the only one_ , she thinks.

She turns back down to the paperwork and rereads the paragraph she’s spent the past five minutes trying to comprehend. It’s something about allocation of funding and Trainers, but the words are blurring together so much she simply drops her pen with a sigh. Shoving the papers away, she promptly drops her head onto the desk.

If it were just the heat and boring accounting work, it would be fine. Natalyn’s used to trudging through heaps of legal paperwork. But it’s not just those two things.

Instead, it’s one of her favorite days of the year. Back in Unova, everything would already be in full swing to celebrate the summer solstice—a holiday that attracted the masses to elaborate festivals. But as she found out the week prior, Galar didn’t share Unova’s view on the solstice, meaning it was just another day for Galarians, so no festival.

She lets out a frustrated groan at the thought.

Somewhere to her left, Raihan tentatively asks, “You good there, Nat?”

She grunts in response.

There’s a bit of shuffling before a warm hand is pressed to Natalyn’s cheek. She turns her head to see Leon having moved close to her, concern written all over his expression. “Are you not feeling well? You can get a fever in this heat if you’re not careful, you know.”

She raises an eyebrow at that. She’s never once heard that in her life, and honestly, it sounds like an old wives’ tale to her, but she doesn’t say that.

Instead, she mumbles, “Just homesick.”

He frowns and looks away from her—at Raihan, she assumes—before asking, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Natalyn heaves herself upright once more and rubs her forehead.

Raihan leans over to pat her shoulder sympathetically.

With a sigh, she does her best to explain the festival she’s desperately missing out on. It’s hard to describe now that she’s forced to; The festival doesn’t really exist for a specific reason. She remembers her mom saying once that it used to be a day that celebrated the Legendary Pokémon of Unova, but it’s been at least a century since that was the purpose of the day.

Instead, it’s now simply a day of enjoyment, where people and Pokémon enjoy themselves. People dressed up and painted their faces, there were carnival games, street vendors, fantastic food, and plenty of dancing.

“My mom’s Stoutlands used to stick to me like glue,” Natalyn says with a laugh. “My parents always get caught up in the music and—well, I wander around a lot, and that freaked her Stoutlands out, but it worked out since I’d inevitably get lost and they’d always guide me back in the end.” She can’t help the smile that spreads across her face. “It’s just… it’s really nice.”

Images flash through her mind: Her mom’s steady hand as she’d paint Natalyn’s face. The lovesick expressions her parents had when they’d join the dancing. The way the Stoutlands would bite her dress and drag her back home.

“That sounds fun,” Leon says warm-heartedly.

“I don’t know,” Natalyn says, suddenly bashful. “It’s stupid. I haven’t been able to go for three years now since I was in Kanto for the last two years. But Kanto had its own celebrations I went to so it didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t be doing _something_ for it this year.”

Raihan frowns. “That’s not stupid.” He leans over and flicks her brow, causing her to yelp. “Hell, I now miss that too and I’ve never been to it.”

Leon hums, tilting his head. “You know… I bet we could pull something together.”

Natalyn twists to stare at the Champion. “Come again?”

* * *

Several hours pass in a whirlwind of activity that leaves Natalyn reeling. She still isn’t quite sure she understands how it happened, but Leon and Raihan managed to throw together what has to be the weirdest solstice celebration Natalyn has ever attended.

For starters, they’d taken over her house for the party, saying that since she had a big yard and no neighbors in close proximity, it would be _perfect_ since they wouldn’t _annoy_ anyone. Then Raihan told her he’d texted their Gym Leader group chat and most of the Leaders were coming. She isn’t sure how she feels about a bunch of people she barely knows in her house but accepts that it will happen with or without her consent.

And, despite her initial reluctance, everything ends up passing in a blur, and she finds herself enjoying the impromptu get together.

Hop, Gloria, Victor, and their friend Marnie—who’d shown up with a disgruntled Piers in tow, much to Natalyn’s amusement—had begged her to show them the dances they found videos of online. Natalyn walks them through the steps, thanking the stars that her mom had refused to let her daughter grow up _not_ knowing how to dance, while traditional Unovan music blasts through speakers in the background.

Sonia and Nessa had brought wine with them when they came, quickly apologizing when they see the teenagers, Sonia giving Leon a glare as she pointedly says, “ _Someone_ didn’t mention there’d be minors here.”

It doesn’t stop Raihan from being the only adult to crack open the Moscato and subsequently turn into a giggly mess after drinking only half a bottle of the Moscato.

Everything else passes by in a flurry of activity.

Suddenly, it’s late, far after the sun finally went down, most everyone who’d stayed having spilled into her backyard.

Natalyn ends up curling up on a cushioned bench, letting the breeze cool her flushed skin. From where she sits, she sees Nessa and Sonia sprawled out on a blanket in the grass, both women sleeping deeply. Further away, Hop plays some card game with Gloria, Victor, Marnie, and a now resigned looking Piers. Raihan had disappeared about an hour prior when he, in all his tipsy glory, announced he needed a nap before disappearing upstairs.

A weight settles next to her on the swing, dragging her from her thoughts.

Leon settles close to her, nudging her arm as he says softly, “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” she says as she nudges him back. “You disappeared there for a moment.”

“Sorry,” he says. “I had to make sure Raihan didn’t start going through your closet. He’s passed out in your room, by the way. Bloke is a bloody lightweight but refuses to admit it.” He pauses for a moment, clearing his throat, and runs a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry so many people showed up. I originally texted Hop and he brought along the other teens, but, well… Raihan made the executive decision to invite everyone else.”

“It’s fine,” she shrugs. She shifts closer to Leon and settles her head on his shoulder. He stiffens for the briefest of moments before relaxing against her.

A minute later, Leon hesitantly asks, “Are you sure? Hop and his friends aren’t exactly _lowkey_.”

Natalyn giggles, thinking the antics the teenagers had gotten into over the course of the last few hours. “You’re not _supposed_ to be lowkey at a solstice party, my guy.”

“I guess,” he says, sounding relieved that she’s not upset.

A comfortable silence envelopes them. Natalyn nestles into Leon, shivering slightly, until he drapes his arm across her shoulders, tugging her closer to him.

Millions of things run through her mind while they gaze at the sky, several minutes passing before she murmurs, “Thank you.”

“For what?” He asks, his voice thick with sleepiness.

“For doing this,” she whispers as she gestures to the remnants of the party. “You guys didn’t have to. I know I said I missed it, but I would’ve lived, you know?”

He peers down at her. “I know,” he says. Then, he leans down and presses a kiss to her hair.

Her heart starts drumming a beat against her ribs, and she starts to stutter out a reply when a blinding flash cuts her off.

Hop stands a few feet away with them, phone in hand, and a maniacal grin on his face. When he left his card game and snuck over to them, Natalyn doesn’t know, but she _does_ know that he just took a picture of her.

And Leon.

Cuddling.

Hop took a photo of her and Leon cuddling.

She pushes Leon away as she trips off the bench. Hop suddenly looks terrified, a quiet, “oh, shit,” escaping his mouth, and moments later she is chasing him through the yard while she screeches:

_“Hop I swear if you don’t delete that right now!”_

Hop only howls with laughter and runs faster.


End file.
